Blog Details

Early to bed, early to rise,  makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise'

-Benjamin Franklin

The benefits of a good night's sleep is underrated and often overlooked in this fast paced digital age; only long after one's erratic sleep pattern, embellished with late work nights through the week and  'bed-time-procrastination-because-YOLO' through the weekends, becomes a habit, with both physical and mental health taking a turn for the worse and conceding defeat, does one acknowledge  the haven offered by an 8 hour siesta.

 

Why is good quality sleep important?

Much like our gadgets need to be recharged regularly for optimum functioning, sleep helps in memory consolidation (ability to store and retrieve from our memory repository), improves our emotional regulation (ability to handle tasks/people/events, with better control over our emotions), cognition (ability to think and reason effectively), performance (at work,school) and even our immune function (ability to fight off infections). Good quality sleep is defined as undisturbed sleep lasting anywhere between 7-8 hours and feeling rested upon waking. Poor quality sleep is seen as difficulty in falling asleep, frequent or early awakenings, waking up feeling unrested, day time sleepiness (resulting in inability to concentrate at work/class the following day or daytime headache) and at times with the occurrence of snoring, sleep walking/talking, restless excessive movements, difficulty breathing. Chronic, persistent poor quality sleep can adversely affect one's physical health by increasing the risk of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia leading to heart attack or stroke.

 

How to improve the quality of one's sleep?

Sleep hygiene is a set of healthy habits to be followed or the modification of certain environmental and lifestyle behaviours to maximise chances of getting good quality sleep. It includes

Regular bedtime and wake time: (the key to waking up early/on time, is sleeping early/on time the previous night)

It is important to set a specific time to go to sleep and to wake up every day; it works best if everyone in the family is able and willing to follow the schedule. While one may may tempted to wake up later than planned, if unable to sleep on time, this will only serve to perpetuate the

Appropriate meal timings:

Appropriate meal timings maintained throughout the day with Dinner (early, light meals) preceding the planned bedtime by at least a couple of hours, can greatly aid early onset of sleep

Lifestyle modifications:

• Regular physical exercise (lasting at least 30 minutes everyday) with avoidance of heavy workouts post 6 pm.
• Having a warm bath or consumption of warm (non stimulating) beverages before bedtime can also be helpful for a few.
• The bed/room must be used only for sleep and coition while its best to assign alternate spaces  in the house for work/study purposes.
• Daytime napping is best avoided; only engage in a '15-20 minute power nap' before 3 pm if absolutely unavoidable.

Read more Understanding Sleep Problems

 

Avoid gadgets/screen time one hour before set bedtime: DIGITAL DETOX

Social media, tv and mobile screens are designed in ways  to keep the viewer glued, interested and stimulated at all times; expecting the mind to switch off abruptly and fall asleep exactly at the time set for sleep (as if it were a computer switch being turned off) is a difficult ask as the mind and body need a cool down period before entering a state conducive for falling asleep. If possible it is advised to keep all gadgets away from the bedroom and maintain it as a "tech-free zone"; if not it is advisable to set timers on the gadget to monitor and limit use after a certain limit/time is reached.

Establish bedtime routines:

Bedtime routines help in decompressing the body and in preparing the mind to fall asleep; bedtime routines can vary widely depending on ones preferences but they can be as simple as  indulging in self care, sorting out one's work place and  putting away the work of the day, journaling or reading a book.

Ambient temperature and lighting:

Establishing a cool temperature at bedtime in the room, augments the chances for falling asleep early; additionally it is recommended that the room is devoid of bright lights (minimal cool/warm night lamps if absolutely necessary) during bedtime. Melatonin is a hormone secreted in the brain in response to darkness (secretion starts just after sunset and peaks around midnight) as a natural mechanism to maintain the circadian rhythm and enable onset of sleep; however this cycle may be hampered by the constant bright light emanated from the everpresent gadgets (mobile,laptop,tv screens) and bright lighting in the house, causing distortion of the natural sleep cycle.

Avoid stimulants:

Consumption of caffeinated drinks such as coffee/tea in the late evenings (post 6 pm) can prevent one from falling asleep on time. Smoking/ consumption of tobacco also acts as a stimulant due to its nicotine content and can cause disruption of sleep cycle.

Avoid substance use:

Several people report the use of alcohol as a means of self medication for sleep issues; alcohol however can cause severe disruption and fragmentation of sleep cycle and in turn alter sleep patterns chronically.

 

Sleep anxiety:

It is defined as excessive worry and concern about being unable to fall/stay asleep at night; Repeatedly checking the time, calculating hours of sleep lost or counting down the hours left to awaken and about the implications of being sleep deprived the next day can be counter productive to falling asleep. It is advisable for one, who is unable to fall asleep despite following all the above steps and remains laying awake in bed for longer than 30 minutes, to get out of bed and move to any other room in the house and engage in insipid activity until one feels sleepy again. This process helps in reinforcing the association between the bed/room and sleep.

While the above list is indicative and not exhaustive, it is worthy to note that these behaviors can have a beneficial effect on people with sleep disturbances. Several psychiatric illnesses can also present initially with sleep disturbance hence it is pertinent to be on the lookout for any inciting stressors or pervasive stressful situations which may be precipitating the sleep issue. The importance of seeking out timely and appropriate consultations with mental health professionals cannot be over-emphasized.